Return of the Frozen Player - Chapter 16
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Return of the Frozen Player 016
Personal commission (2)
âHow was it?â Shim Deok-gu asked as soon as Seo Jun-ho entered his office.
âWhat do you mean?â
âCha Si-eun. Isnât she great?â
âWe only spent two hours together. How should I know?â After a pause, Seo Jun-ho continued. â…Well, sheâs good at giving briefings.â
âYou have no idea. She could work at a conglomerate company or a famous guild with her credentials.â
âThen why is she working at a place like this?â
âDidnât you notice? She really admires Specter. She said she wanted to work here simply because Specter was here for a while.â
âWhat a strange girl.â As Seo Jun-ho muttered to himself, Shim Deok-gu stood up.
âAnyways, sheâs good at her job, so make good use of her. Letâs go.â
âGo where?â
âIf you want to defeat the Cinder Fox, youâll need good equipment.â
âWeâre going shopping?â
âNo. Weâre going to the Associationâs weapons warehouse.â
â…You cheap bastard.â
âHey, they make good stuff. Take a look before you judge.â Shim Deok-gu led his grumpy friend and started toward the warehouse.
âIâve gone there before. There isnât much.â
âYou only went to zone 1 last time.â
The back door of zone 1 opened as Shim Deok-guâs iris was scanned.
âDonât you think you at least need gear from zone 2 if youâre gonna fight the Cinder Fox?â
â…Hoo.â Now interested, Seo Jun-ho slowly looked around zone 2. The quality of the equipment was much better than in zone 1. âCan I take anything I want?â
âYeah. I can explain them to you if youâd like.â
âPlease. Thereâs a lot of unfamiliar stuff here since itâs been a long time.â Shim Deok-gu laughed and grabbed the sword in front of Seo Jun-ho.
âDo you remember the game weâd play in PC bangs* after school?â
(PR: âPC roomâ, basically internet/gaming cafĂ©s.)
âYeah. League of Gods, was it?â
âYeah. Whenever they had big patches, they released new builds and items.â
âRight. When it came out, weâd come up with strategies and plans.â They laughed as they reminisced.
âItâs the same with gears. Theyâve been developing for the past 25 years.â Shim Deok-gu held out the sword to Seo Jun-ho.
âTake it.â He did. It was of high quality, but other than that, it just seemed like a normal sword. However, it felt much lighter.
âIâm a little disappointed. Itâs nice… but itâs pretty normal.â
âInfuse it with magic.â As soon as he did, Seo Jun-hoâs eyes widened in surprise.
â…What is this?â
âItâs a sword with the highest rate of magic transference. Your old sword couldnât do this, could it?â
âYeah.â
âThese weapons are the same.â Shim Deok-gu excitedly introduced Seo Jun-ho to the other equipment.
âThis one releases electricity. You can stun monsters with it.â
âIf you infuse this armor with magic, it creates an energy shield to block the enemyâs attacks.â
âOh, have I explained this one? Itâs called a magic bomb. Itâs super powerful.â Shim Deok-gu paused and glanced toward Seo Jun-ho. â…Hey, whatâs with that face? I thought youâd be more excited.â After all, Seo Jun-ho was greedy when it came to items.
âI mean, it is impressive⊠but you said most players use these sort of things nowadays?â
âOf course. Theyâre a lot more efficient than the normal weapons we used back then.â
â…â
Seo Jun-ho furrowed his eyebrows and turned back to him. âThen when do they train with them?â
âHuh? ThatâsâŠâ Shim Deok-gu shrugged. âIâm not a player, so Iâm not too sure, but do they really need to train with them? All the newest equipment is at this level.â
âHaaâŠâ Seo Jun-ho shook his head. âDeok-gu, the⊠rankers. Do they use these things too?â
âWell, rankers usually get custom-made gear, so Iâm not too sure.â
â…â
Pursing his lips, Seo Jun-ho thought for a second. He said that the standards for players have gone up⊠I can see that.Â
In the past, players would die miserable deaths because they couldnât pierce the orcsâ hides. But with these new weapons, an orcâs hide could easily be stabbed through. But these are mere toys that can only kill normal monsters at best.Â
These weapons couldnât be used to hunt the strongest onesâpredators that made even Seo Jun-ho nervous.
These toys wouldnât even put a scratch on them. He was sure of it. A playerâs magic will short-circuit in front of such destructive power.Â
And what about these fake artifacts that werenât even worthy of a grade rating? Theyâd simply break and fall apart.
âNot only that, the Cinder FoxâŠâ It was the strongest of its kind, a âBoss Monsterâ.
Getting a little annoyed at Seo Jun-hoâs long silence, Shim Deok-gu finally spoke up.
âWhy arenât you saying anything? Is there a problem?â
âThere’s only one type of monster these toys can defeat.â Seo Jun-ho placed the sword back to its place and shook his head. âDeok-gu, do you know why a player only encounters weak monsters when their level is low?â
â…Because theyâll die if they encounter a strong one?â
âExactly. This shitty system is really fair about things like that.â
âWhat are you trying to say?â
Seo Jun-ho closed his eyes and recalled the training he and his four comrades went through.
â…A player grows by fighting monsters. That way, they can use the experience and skills theyâve accumulated to face more powerful monsters.â
âSo you think these high-tech weapons wonât work on strong monsters.â
âYeah. Thatâs why I asked if rankers use these too.â
â…â Shim Deok-gu paused to consider this.
âYouâre right⊠players who use these weapons donât exactly achieve much. But theyâre great for Gates and low-leveled monsters.â
Chuckling, Seo Jun-ho looked around. Something caught his eye, and he walked toward a corner. A longsword was propped up against the wall.
Shing.
The sound rang across the room as he pulled the sword out of its sheath.
âWhatâs this?â
âThatâs also made with new materials. But it doesnât have any particular features, so I just put it away in the corner.â
â…The world has become very interesting. Personal growth has been hindered by mere toys.â That was probably because the world was so peaceful. âIâll take this. I donât need anything else. Oh!â Seo Jun-ho grabbed a few of the magic bombs. âAnd these look pretty fun, so Iâll take some.â
âAlrightâŠâ Shim Deok-guâs shoulders sagged as he muttered to himself.
There was a crowd of people gathered in front of the Burning Dunes Gate. They were mostly players and their families, but there were also reporters waiting for Seo Jun-ho.
âThatâs a lot of people.â Cha Si-eun shuffled in her seat as Seo Jun-ho looked outside. She opened her thermos and offered it to him.
âItâs lavender tea. Itâs good for concentration as well as easing the body and mind.â
â…You really came prepared.â
âIâm a secretary. I heard that players get quite nervous and anxious before entering a GateâŠâ She tilted her head as she studied him. âBut itâs strange. You donât seem nervous at all.â
â…I am, on the inside.â Seo Jun-ho blew on the tea before taking a sip and looked back outside. âItâs good. But I didnât expect there to be this many players.â
âYouâre not going in alone. They all want the Cinder Foxâs core.â
âI heard that there are guild members here too. How many players are there?â
âCounting Jun-ho-nim, there are a total of 27 players who will go inside the Gate.â And they didnât know how many would return. Seo Jun-ho shook his head and got out of the car. As soon as he did, he was showered with camera flashes and mics shoved in his face.
âHow do you feel about going inside a Gate with other players for the first time?â
âThe Cinder Fox is known to be a fickle Boss Monster. How confident are you?â
âIs it true that you received a commission from the Myungho Groupâs President, Choi Pil-ho?â The other players snickered as the reporters crowded him.
âWow, youâd think heâs a ranker or something.â
âHeâs been blowing up even though heâs a rookie. The newspapers are all over him.â
âThat scrawny guy cleared two Uncleared Gates? Were the reports mistaken?â
âI donât believe it either. His equipment looks shabby too.â
âWell⊠he probably has stuff in his inventory. Do you think heâd clear the Gate with just that?â
There was a simple reason for their contempt. There were almost no novices who received as much attention as Seo Jun-ho did. Most players who werenât part of famous guilds couldnât even land interviews.
Seo Jun-ho knew this too.
There are this many reporters already⊠Itâs more than in the past.Â
It wouldnât be an exaggeration to say that the reporters were a representation of his hold on the media. Feeling good about himself, he curled his lips.
âNervous? I feel like Iâm out for a walk.â
âCinder Fox? Iâll defeat it easily.â As soon as he ended the short interviews, Cha Si-eun stepped up.
âFor the sake of player Seo Jun-hoâs mental state, we will end the interviews here.â The reporters looked disappointed, but it would be rude to pester someone who was about to enter a Gate. As they started to disperse, Cha Si-eun let out a sigh.
âPhew, I didnât know that there would be this many reporters.â
âIt just shows how interested they are in me.â
â…â
Cha Si-eun scanned the other players. There was no one else who looked as calm as Seo Jun-ho. And heâs only been to two Gates beforeâŠÂ Was he trying to act cool because he was in front of a girl?
Cha Si-eun glanced at Seo Jun-ho before nodding at him.
âPlease return safely.â
âYes. And please make me lavender tea again. It was good.â As he started to walk toward the other players, he said something else. âOh, and you should get up earlier tomorrow.â
âExcuse me? Get up earlyâŠ?â Cha Si-eun blinked as Seo Jun-ho turned back to face her.
âAfter today, weâre gonna get a whole lot of personal commission requests, so prepare yourself.â
11:28 AM.
27 players entered the Gate, leaving their familyâs cheers and the mediaâs attention behind.